Mallrats #1
The comic opens with newscaster, Phineas Thrupp, revealing that he was recently the victim of a kidnapping attempt by supervillain Bon Chance, while waiting for his family at Landsdowne Mall. Only the intervention of some locally resident mutants saved him from an unknown fate, one of whom tragically died saving him.
Phineas offers his graditude to these “mallrats”, and wishes he knew who they were, so he could thank them properly. The SCPD is not releasing any further information on this incident.
Aster sits at her computer, picking through surveillance videos, looking for Bon Chance – but cameras seem to just malfunction near the villain. Digging through “known associates” she finds the villain Red Blade listed, and through research finds he’s been surprisingly involved in two low level robberies recently. But in both cases, identity cards belonging to a police prison transport driver were stolen.
In a car parked near the river, on the lower level of a stacked two level road, Aster Eliot and Izzy Lockhart sit in the front, while the masked and grey suited Sputnik sits in the back. Aster goes over the plan – Izzy will become Ghost, and sneak into the police station to investigate any unusual police prison transports, while Aster and Sputnik “babysit Betty”.
Wispy smoke-like material leaves through Izzy’s mouth, and Ghost heads off to the police station. The station seems to have been designed to stop some sort of non physical intrusion, but.. not quite Ghost. Soon Ghost is looking over the shoulder of two police officers who are wondering why the SCPD is sending an empty prison transport to the county jail.
Sputnik and Aster are in a rave at an abandoned underground bus garage with Bad Betty, who looks just like Izzy, but her speech bubbles are white text on black. Betty is pouring a line of shots from a whisky bottle while exclaiming, “Again!”
Sundog, a cycle messenger with pale skin and pillarbox red hard, is sitting at a table in a library. The librarian, Sarah, brings Sundog a new book. “I think you’ll like this one”. Outside there are blue lights, but no sirens. Sundog checks a text message, then steps outside, just in time to see a glowing pink form overturn a police truck by throwing a heart-shaped energy blade into the side of it. Then Bon Chance and Red Blade step out of a white van across the street. Three supervillains! Sundog sends a text and photos to their team, and the her eyes turn black, as she exerts her powers to try and protect the truck from the villains.
The final panels of the issue show Aster, Izzy and Sputnik racing to the scene in a car, while Sundog is is now wreathed in an aura of bright plasma, with cracked porcelain skin, battles with Red Blade. Bon Chance and Cupid have started to unload some cylinders of red liquid from the police truck. A battle commences, where Sundog and Sputnik engage Red Blade, Ghost tries to keep the van keys away from the incredibly lucky Bon Chance… one of the cylinders shatters, setting red liquid into the watching crowd… a boy in the crowd catches fire, as if losing control of powers… and then finally, Aster drives her car into the back of the truck, shattering all the cylinders.. sending a cloud of red vapor across the whole scene.
TO BE CONTINUED.